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By WADE GOSSETT
When director David
Cronenberg became a filmmaker, entomology lost one
very dedicated practitioner. It's not clear what
insights he would have brought to the scientific
study of insects, but his obsession with bugs
would at least have a principled outlet. Instead,
in 1986 Cronenberg created the "Fly" and in 1991
infested "Naked Lunch" with a great variety of
oversized and fleshy creepy crawlers; most of
which can even talk.
Ostensibly based on William S. Burroughs'
hallucinatory, and notoriously unfilmable, novel
"Naked Lunch," Cronenberg's rendering assigns an
unflappable Peter Weller as a professional bug
exterminator who looks like a '50s P.I., complete
with fedora and dangling unfiltered cigarette. The
feigned plot has Weller discover his wife's
addiction to his exterminating bug powder, and
when he joins her he ends up in a police station,
where a giant beetle, through a talking orifice,
informs him that he is a spy, and must kill his
wife, who's with the opposition. Weller proceeds
to accidentally kill his wife, and flee into
Interzone, a nightmarish Casablanca, where strange
characters abound. There, he encounters
typewriters which are giant, talking bugs,
invariably trying to convince him to write.
Meanwhile, he's wondering about his sexuality.
Cronenberg's fetish with bugs, slime and
overwrought sexual imagery are so abundant that
they eventually bore. Without a thematic thread,
it's Weller's deadpan humor and the attempt to
figure out what it all means that maintain
attention. It's conceivable that "Naked Lunch" is
about the creative process. The typewriter which
becomes a pest demanding that it be used should
have resonance for anyone who's struggled with
writers' block. Interzone could be where
inspiration comes from. And Weller's wife-killing,
obviously inspired from Burroughs' own life, may
be symbolic of the writer's need to be left alone
with his thoughts.
Then again, it may all mean nothing. Only
Cronenberg knows for sure. And, thankfully, on
this Criterion Collection 2-disc DVD edition, he
provides a fascinating commentary track (along
with Weller) addressing the symbolism used in the
film, his aesthetic choices and the treatment of
his sources, and he defends himself against some
of the criticism leveled toward the film on its
release.
Other extra features are contained on the second
disc: They included a gallery of production
stills, excerpts from the novel read by Burroughs,
an illustrated essay about the special effects in
the film by Cinefex magazine editor Jody Dunan,
and a collection of original marketing materials
including trailers. The most important extra is
the London Weekend Television special "Naked
Making Lunch," a 48-minute featurette that
includes on-location footage and interviews
directed by Chris Rodley. A 32-page booklet
residing inside the case features Janet Maslin's
1991 film review for the New York Times, essays by
Rodley and Gary Indiana and a grateful reaction
piece by Burroughs.
Technically the DVD is above reproach, featuring a
high-definition digital transfer approved by
Cronenberg himself. Thematically, it's strictly
for fans of Cronenberg and Burroughs. For those
familiar with both artists' work, it will be
fascinating to try and deconstruct the film and
determine where it stops being a tribute to the
writer and becomes a personal expression of the
filmmaker's vision thing. |
